White Jade
by genki-escapist
Summary: The distance across several seas had made it easy to forget. But there she stood beneath the moonlight, and his childhood was reaching out to his present, committing the moment to memory. [ZukoxMai, reunion fic]


**Author's Notes:** Another one-shot. A very short one-shot. This is really unusual for me, doing one-shots. The thing about this ship that allows me to write one-shots is that: they had a past, they are in such a complicated position in the present, and that they are going to have a future (but we have no idea how that will turn out yet)… there are so many gaps to speculate about and fill… Written post-"Bitter Work".

**Disclaimer: I sure don't own "Avatar: The Last Airbender". I don't own Mai or Zuko either… those two belong to each other. :snicker:**

**White Jade**

So intent he was on getting back to Uncle Iroh with the necessary supplies that he walked steadily through the trees, not pausing when he saw somebody ahead. He had stepped into the moonlit clearing before he realized that the figure by the stream was female, and was slipping into a robe that rustled only as silk would.

He stopped in his tracks and cleared his throat, both to make his presence known and to prepare for making an apology, but she had already turned to him. Eyes of pale gold shimmered through the darkness and froze his words in his throat.

Her slender white hands shook as she hurriedly wrapped herself in her robeand tied the wide sash about her waist. She swiped at a pile of clothing by her feet and when she got into a combative stance, there were knives between the fingers of her clenched hands—throwing knives, Zuko noticed.

Dropping his satchel on the ground, he stepped out of the shadows of the trees with hands raised and said: "I apologize for my intrusion. I did not mean to—and I mean you no harm."

She startled when she saw and heard him. Carefully, she dropped to her knees and laid down her weapons on the ground. Then she rose, slowly, picking up the skirt of her robe and lowering it as she stood and slipped her dainty feet in sandals, so that he never caught even a glimpse of her ankles. It didn't seem like his words had convinced her—she still looked at him warily. But there was also something else in those keen golden eyes.

"Zuko…" she murmured almost inaudibly.

She had recognized him.

Zuko frowned in confusion.

The darkness of her long hair contrasted with the whiteness of her porcelain doll-like face. The golden eyes held his gaze steadily. Her silk robe was a deep red—Fire Nation red. He immediately drew his broadswords. She made no move to retrieve her knives, and stood with her hands clasped composedly over her belt.

The Fire Nation lady—he knew nobility when he saw it—recognized him, even with his shaggy hair and Earth Kingdom clothes. Who was she?

"Zuko." She spoke louder and her voice was familiar—sparking memories of fountains, flowers, and flaming apples, as well as the sensations of a dozen stolen kisses; under a shower of plum blossoms, beside the turtle-duck pond, behind a pillar in the castle halls.

His cheeks stained red, his grip slackened and his broadswords slid out of his hands and dropped to the ground. "Mai…"

"You didn't recognize me." It was a statement, not a question.

Zuko didn't respond. He didn't want to lie. Instead, he asked: "What are you doing here?"

"I took a bath in the stream."

"I know, I saw—I mean, what are you doing here, so near Ba Sing Se?"

She held his stare unblinkingly. "Azula asked me to come."

"Azula!" Automatically, his hands sought his swords only to reach an empty sheathe. She remained standing, weaponless, and Zuko dropped his hands at his sides.

"Yes…" Mai combed her damp hair with her fingers, gazing at him thoughtfully. "She's looking for you… you already know that."

"Why are you…" He never finished the question. He knew he had no right to ask anything from her, and judging from the calculating look on her face, she knew it as well.

"You forgot about me, didn't you?"

He squared his shoulders, and forced himself to maintain eye contact.

"You wouldn't see me after the Agni Kai. You didn't say goodbye." Her tone was level. "And you didn't think of me in two years, not even once."

What she said was true. He looked away, his jaw set hard.

"I should have known," Mai whispered, pacing beside the stream. "I wanted to believe otherwise but… all boys are the same. You think you can just take girls by the hand and kiss us as you please, then leave when it is convenient and never even look back—"

"I was banished!" He shouted, stamping his foot. "I lost everything and I was forced to leave—"

"And I was left behind," she retorted, whirling suddenly to face him. "Without even a notice."

He breathed deeply, shuddering with the struggle to keep his temper in check. He was about to argue when she spoke again.

"And Zuko, you didn't lose everything. Maybe it doesn't matter, but there is something you still have."

Guilt and shame burned his cheeks. Accepting the loss of his home, his throne, and his family had seemed so much easier if he let go of what he did have left. And in two years, he had occupied his mind with thoughts of his losses, as if there was nothing he had willingly—and willfully—relinquished. Forgetting wasn't all that hard, especially across the distance of several seas.

"She was right." She sighed, tilting her head, looking up through her lashes at him. Her sigh had sounded like acquiescence, her guardedness vanished, and she stood there in stillness. With a painful intake of breath he realized that there was no forgetting this; the guileless gaze of pale gold, skin that gleamed like white jade in the moonlight, a lady and a child all at once reaching across two years' distance. Then the moment passed, as all moments do, and she had run past him, into the woods, her footfalls so light they soon faded into the night.

Zuko grabbed his satchel and broadswords, and strode in the opposite direction. He trudged slower, and slower, until he stopped.

He turned around and ran, following the trail that she hadn't bothered to erase. A bent twig here, an imprint of a sandal toe on soft ground there; he had covered a surprisingly short distance when he had to stop. His sister's tank was just at the edge of the woods, a large tent propped beside it. Quietly, he pulled himself up a tree, watching behind the leaves.

As Mai approached, the tent flap opened, revealing Azula, still wearing her red suit. "You're back," Azula said. Zuko knew her just well enough to detect the faintest trace of hesitation in her voice.

Mai put her palms together and bowed shallow. The tent flap was pushed aside again, and a yawning Ty Lee shuffled out, rubbing her eyes. "Mai, you're back. We were worried. You shouldn't go out so late, it attracts misfortune."

"Why don't you go back to sleep, Ty Lee?" Azula told her. The acrobat nodded and stumbled back inside the tent.

"How was your bath?" Azula asked Mai. "Did you go back to that stream?"

"Yes. It was fine." Mai replied quickly.

"That's good." Azula cocked her head as she studied her friend. "Where are your clothes?"

"… They got misplaced." She pulled the silk robe tighter around herself.

"Oh no, don't tell me—you had a run-in with one of those shaggy green-clad savages?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Azula placed her hands on her friend's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "But you _are_ alright?"

Mai nodded.

"Well, it would be best for us to sleep now." Azula held her elbow and gestured at the tent.

She nodded again. "Azula… You were right." She sighed, tilting her head, slanted gaze trained upon his sister.

Azula raised an eyebrow. "About what, exactly?"

"Various things."

His sister's smile was indulgent. "Oh Mai…" She pulled the doll-like girl into an embrace. "You know I didn't mean for it to be like this."

Azula always lies.Zuko clenched his broadswords in his hands.

She released Mai, her hand lingering upon Mai's neck, brushing her fingers against white jade skin as she led Mai away from him.

**Author's Notes (again) : **I love manipulative!Azula. I want to see more of her doing the same, it's a lot of fun to watch. And yes, while Maiko is my OTP, I find the ZukoxMaixAzula triangle (_not_ OT3) idea to be very interesting. If Zuko won't love Mai, at least she still has her girl friends, that is what I think. And—honestly, I don't really think that Mai and Zuko had a serious relationship before Zuko was banished… but it's still a fun idea to play around with. Hmm… depressing isn't my style. I'll do something light-hearted next time around.

Please do review, feedback is always appreciated.


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